Sons of the Modern Dragon

I remember in the early 70's my grandma spent a lot of her free time sewing blankets from of pieces of cloth collected from seamstresses. And these blankets together with used clothes were sent to her sisters in Swatow, China by ship. Every month too, she would send her meagre saving of about RM 200 to them through someone who would write a letter as well as remit her money for a fee. Those were the times when China was struggling to feed her 1.2 billion people. Two decades or more later, the China of my grandma has been transformed radically into a nation feared and distrusted by many nations, particularly the US. Even Japan and the Southeast-Asian nations fear her rise as an economic as well as a military power although China continues to assure the world that she has no ambition to become a military power or any intention to interfere with the affairs of sovereign states.

What we have seen is a China in a hurry to modernise, to haul her people into the 21st century, and she has succeeded dramatically.Despite China's clampdown on individual freedom and free speech, its fear of cultural and moral pollution, it seems rather lax in curtailing citizens' expressions of their individualism in unexpected ways as captured by the popular ChinaSmack.com site.

A businessman and his secretary horse riding to work

Students at an academy protesting an official's long boring speech by lifting their shirts over their heads

A 26 car wedding motorcade

Planking has become very popular among the youths

A psychologist promoting himself by using a beautiful girl in underwear

Woman beats man after minor accident

Girls dressed in school outfits keep internet cafe customers happy

A naked man trying to lift a taxi

A male cross-dresser at a McDonald's

Lingerie models performing in front of a large crowd including children

Strip performance in a rural community